"No meeting" Sale-a-bration club!

You read that right!

This year, during the annual SAB period at Stampin' Up ( January, February, March) I have decided to try something new.

Many of you do not like to go out in the winter time and let's face it, I don't have the most winter – friendly driveway! BUT none of us want to miss out on placing orders right now!

So… I got to thinking... What if I hosted a club for these three months and we did not have a physical meeting? 

With three of you joining your orders together, at $50 each, (enabling you to get a free item from the SAB brochure) the $150 would be enough to submit a workshop.

When we do that, we earn hostess benefits! And one of YOU earn free hostess benefits each month!

No driving in snow!

No cold basement!

No steep, icy driveway!

Just ordering like you would anyway, and FREE STUFF!

I will make 2 to 3 cards each month and put them in with your order when it arrives.

I will take pictures and send those to you before you put your order together, with notes. That way, if you see something you like you can add it to your order for the month.

If you are local, we will make arrangements for pick up or delivery when the order arrives.

If you are long distance, I will quickly mail out your order to you!

As you may be familiar, SAB allows you one free item from the SAB brochure when you spend $50 before shipping handling and tax.

The choices this year, as always, are fantastic! Several of them coordinate directly with the items in the new Occasions catalog-so, of course, you just have to have everything that matches!

That's not all! 

There are three items in the SAB brochure that are available for a limited time!

That's right!

After February 15 the last three items shown in the brochure will be gone and will be replaced with three new items, just in case we have already collected all of the selections.

You can view the Sale-a-Bration brochure online here:

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ItemList.aspx?categoryid=100600

The new Occasions catalog gives us even more to drool over!

Good thing that goes until May 

31, huh? 

Browse the catalogue here:

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/CategoryPage.aspx?categoryID=100500

If you would like a brochure, and are not currently working with another demonstrator, contact me and I will send one to you.

OK, time is running out to get involved!

Last week I sent out an email about my idea and received an overwhelming response!

I thought I had better advertise this a little more to see if anyone else is interested.

You need to tell me ASAP if you're interested- you can email me, text me, or leave a comment on this blog.

The first order, for January, is due with payment no later than January 27.

For each club we need three people who are interested in placing a $50 order each month (January, February, and March).

Oh, and one more thing...

There is a sale on the three-month pre-paid subscription to My Paper Pumpkin, making a $50 order even easier!

Don't miss out! Contact me today!

April stamp club

This month we are making three projects, highlighting product from the Occasions catalog.

The first project we will do is a berry basket, because we didn't have time to do it last month as I had planned. Instead of adding a handle to make it an Easter- themed basket (as originally planned ), we will just do one that I had made for a friend.

I used the new Berry Basket die for the Big Shot and our coaster board to make it extra sturdy.

Don't forget that you can make the basket just out of card stock or DSP, but if you really need a sturdier basket, take this route! You can cover this with card stock, stamp on it or even emboss the sides with an embossing folder! You can decorate it any way you like, of course, - the possibilities are only limited by your imagination!

We are also going to make the little plant pick that you see here. It doesn't matter what the basket contents are, it is just so darn cute, SO BE SURE TO ADD ONE! For that, we are using From the Garden bundle:

Speaking of bundles... At April club it is "bundle-mania"!

The next two projects involve two different bundles and I am interchanging elements from each of them: Crazy About You and Petal Potpourri:

The first bundle features the stamp set  Crazy About You and the Hello You thinlet dies. Both are available for purchase separately.

The Petal Potpourri bundle features a stamp set and the coordinating Flower Medallion punch. The punch is also designed to work with one of the flowers in the Crazy About You set!

Here are the cards were making:

This card was inspired by Connie Stewart, and features the technique known as "zen doodle".

And, this card was inspired by Connie Babbert. I love how all the colors from the Gold Soirée DSP are in this card, including the metallic gold!

I finally got to use my Party Pennants Bigz die for the Big Shot, too!

This stamp club is full, but if you are interested, I will be beginning the Summer Stamp Clubs soon. Summer clubs run June, July and August. Each club has three participants who agree to purchase $50 of catalog merchandise  each month.

That is usually easy to do because we have a new catalog coming out in June!

In fact, the retiring list will be announced earlier than ever before-  April 17 - so, stay tuned!

REMINDER: accessories on the retiring list are available only until supplies last! Don't forget that on the retiring list this year will be the In Colors 2013–2015 (Strawberry Slush, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar and Coastal Cabana)

If you need any of the ink refills, more card stock, etc. in these colors, don't wait until the last minute!

What has Danielle been up to?

I have really been remiss in posting things on my blog lately, I know!

Gee, you would think that I haven't stamped OR cooked in over a month.

Not so!

I have oodles of pictures I have taken of delicious food that I have cooked! I promise to share recipes with you! (crab Alfredo, cauliflower "mashies", chicken thighs in a lemony butter sauce...)  BEWARE - it may just happen in a late night, no-sleep bombardment!

And, stamping....

I have been busy!

I'd like to share with you a few projects that I have been working on over the last few weeks:

A gift of thank you cards for a friend that just retired.

One of our wood mount stamp cases worked perfectly to house all cards and matching envelopes! The silver foil paper really added extra elegance to the envelope liners!

St. Paddy's Day treats....

At the end of the rainbow you will find a pot of gold…

Aren't  these just darling?

I made about eight of them (punch art at its best!) Besides giving them to my own boys, they were handed out to their friends (all high school-aged boys) and they were well received. The Skittles did not last long!

A gift for a student going abroad....

This one is a work in progress.

 I am meeting this friend on Sunday of this week so I have just a few more days to finish!

I bought the scrapbook kit called So You from the Stampin' Up! Occasions mini catalog. 

I did take some creative liberties with the front cover using a stamp from Adventure Awaits (also from Occasions mini).

The album itself shouldn't take me much time to complete, however. The kit is designed with acetate/transparency overlays for each picture page. You stamp on it with white Staz-on ink, and simply place a picture behind it!

Here is one  page I made with a piece of DSP behind it (from the Adventure Bound pack).

(Love this paper, especially for masculine purposes!)

I can't wait to complete this gift and give it to him!

I've already ordered a second one intended for my younger son who's going to Costa Rica this summer.

Perfect gift!!!

Truly irresistible!

Product spotlight

Irresistibly Yours Designer Series Paper

Doesn't look like much, I know!

But you are going to love this paper! It is being offered as one of the free selections in this year's Sale-a-Bration brochure!

The paper is 12 x 12, and each sheet has a glossy white design on white card stock. Glossy areas will resist ink once applied ("emboss resist"). Therefore, you can customize this paper any way you want!

There are six different designs and two sheets of each. That  gives you plenty of area to cut down and to use on your cards or scrapbook pages.

In my last post I included this as one of the two most popular free selections this year. THIS IS MY PREDICTION, as I just love what you can do with this paper, and I think you will too!

Let me show you how to use it first. Then, I will showcase each pattern in use on cards that I have created.

HOW TO COLOR YOUR IRRESISTIBLY YOURS DSP:

After doing my research (as I always do) by scouring Stampin' Up!, Pinterest and YouTube for other demonstrators and what they're doing,  AND THEN TRYING IT FOR MYSELF, these are the best ways I have come up!

#1 Stamping Spritzer

•Fill a spritzer bottle with rubbing alcohol and add drops of ink refill to achieve your desired color. 

•Spritz paper lightly from a distance of about 5 inches.

•(As with other methods) you'll want to have a paper towel or tissue nearby to remove excess ink from glossy areas.

**The paper will not hold an excessive amount of water! Spritz lightly!

**This method works well with different colors being used and you can alternate the intensity of the spritzing!

#2 Brayer

If you want even, intense color - this is the method you should use!

** Remember when using a brayer be sure to ink it and use it rolling, repeatedly, in ONE DIRECTION! Going back and forth only uses about 1 inch of your roller - think about it!

#3 Sponge

(MY FAVORITE!) It doesn't matter if you prefer a sponge or a dauber - just apply ink until desired color consistency is reached and wipe off excess.

In the picture below, I have done the left-half of the strip of paper with a brayer and the right-half with a sponge dauber:

(#4) Blendabilities alcohol markers

I put this method in parentheses because I'm not 100% sure about it - try it if you like it!

•Just scribble on the DSP with your marker and then wipe.

A couple things I found with using the Blendabilities method to color DSP are:

1) The glossy areas absorb some of the marker color and do not, when buffed, completely reveal bright white. (Some demonstrators are saying, though, that if you apply it and quickly wipe away excess you will get white!) 

Here is a picture compared to the brayer/sponge so you can see the difference in the glossy areas:

2) If you do not color in the same direction you'll see your color lines!

-----

Here are some cards that I made, using each of the patterns.

BTW, I did something that I haven't done in a very long time - that is, I got so carried away playing with my new stamps, that I went to bed at almost 3 AM! That's what I used to do when my kids were little! It was the only time I had to myself after they went to bed, so I would "lock" myself in my stamp room!

Last night my oldest son came down about 1:30 (as he was getting ready to retire for the night ) and said, "Geez Mom, go to bed!"

How are roles are beginning to reverse...

Anyway, here are my cards:

Here are the vines again. 

New set: Indescribable Gift

I also used it in this card from my last blog post, (so you can see the flower design here, too):

New set: Lotus Blossom (free SAB)

Here is the paper with the stars- this was a card inspired by a very similar one that I saw on alystamps.com:

New set: Simply Wonderful (free SAB), Best Year Ever DSP (free SAB)

The dotted paper was cut out with the balloons framelits and then sponged on this one:

New bundle: Celebrate Today stamp set and Balloon framelits (also shown:  Bash Specialty DSP)

A Valentine card done with the scalloped design - I have two alternatives - feminine (more bling-y with a large rhinestone on the "fork bow") and masculine (with a mini metallic clothespin):

New set: You Plus Me (also shown: Stacked With Love DSP stack, Calypso Coral Pom-pom trim)

And, finally, the stripes...:

New set: Adventure Awaits  (also shown: Adventure Bound DSP stack)

I had so much fun playing with the Irresistibly Yours DSP and also many of my new products that I purchased from the Occasions catalog!

I hope to continue sharing ideas with you in future posts.

If you are interested in purchasing any product, please contact me through this blog or email: Dandyspandy@sbcglobal.net

You can also visit my online store and shop  24/7 at: http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/dandyspandy/

Remember: until March 31, during Sale-a-Bration, with each $50 subtotal of your order you get to choose one free product. I'm betting that Irresistibly Yours DSP will be one of your choices!

January stamp club

I am so excited about the new Occasions catalog and the free product offered this year in the Sale-a-Bration brochure! At stamp club this month I was sure to use all new product so that everyone could be as excited as me!

Remember, Sale-a-Bration is a very special time of the year for Stampin' Up!.  For each $50 subtotal of your order (you do not have to split your order up) you will earn one free choice from the mini brochure!

And this year the choices are spectacular! There are stamp sets, 2 Designer Series Paper packs, an accessory pack and all current Blendabilities are available as a free selection (one three pack per free selection)!

Example:

Here's what we made in stamp club this month:

Card #1:

A quick card, really.

We tried our hand at the "chalkboard" technique - we used the new chalkboard paper as well as a new chalk pad!  (The greeting is from the new set Big on You) Details were drawn with our white chalk marker (available in our main catalog). I will describe further this  EASY "chalkboard" technique in an upcoming post!

Also used on this card was a piece of the Best Year Ever DSP (a free selection from Sale-a-Bration), and the new, clear Itty Bitty Accents epoxy stickers - can you see one there on the heart?

I was rather boring - cutting our new washi sheets into strips so that it resembled plain, ol' washi tape! It will be a lot more fun once I get a hold of some framelits to use on the sheets of washi tape paper and cut it into shapes!

Card #2:

My prediction: the two most popular choices of free Sale-a-Bration product this year... the Lotus Blossom stamp set  and the Irresistibly Yours DSP pack.

I plan to feature the stamp set in just a few days, so I will explain and show you by pictures how this is a three-step instead of a two-step stamp set. GORGEOUS!

The Irresistibly Yours DSP doesn't look like much when you see it in the brochure... that's because it's white paper with different white embossed images. The magic of this paper is adding color - the embossed images will resist color!

For example, on this card we applied Wild Wasabi ink to the leaf piece and Pink Pirohuette ink to the shorter piece. The white vine/flower is the result of the "emboss resist" technique! (you can view my info about this technique by clicking here:http://dandyspandy.blogspot.com/2014/01/so-lets-get-this-party-started.html?m=1)

A touch of gold finishes it off - gold baker's twine and sequins.

Card #3:

This card was inspired by a card I had seen by Deb Valder: 

I used the new butterfly thinlit dies and also a piece of the Painted Blooms DSP.

It looks as though the butterfly is just filled in with white card stock when in fact, it's on and a window sheet, so it appears to be floating!

The butterfly is cut out, as I mentioned before, using the new butterfly thinlits.

You can visit my last post for a quick release tip of this detailed die:http://dandyspandy.blogspot.com/2015/01/new-love-butterfly-basics-bundle.html?m=1

A window sheet/acetate is glued behind the opening with glue dots. The butterfly is then placed back in the opening and actually glued to the window sheet- we used a two-way glue pen to do this.

Another favorite new set of mine is Painted Petals from the Occasions catalog! We used just a few stamps from that set to decorate the inside. LOVE THIS SET!

We tied a "double fork bow" to the front of the card to finish. Again, I used the help of another demonstrator's video. Here is the link that we used:  http://youtu.be/VWou4GtMD-Q 

Also note that you can make a smaller or larger "fork bow", and they each have their own video!

I can't wait to give you further details on some of these feature products! I plan on doing so in future posts.

It's easy to spend $50 with all the great  products featured in the Occasions catalog! If you order before March 31, you will be able to pick a free Sale-a-Bration item per $50 total.

You can view both of those mini catalogs here: http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx

If you did not receive one in the mail at the end of December, but you would like one, please contact me, either by way of this blog or through email, and I will see that you get on!. (If you have a regular demonstrator I will ask that you contact him/her first.)

You can always order online 24/7 on my online store! http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/dandyspandy/

Click here and once you're on my web page, click "shop" in the upper right-hand corner.

Have fun!

PS: There will be no clubs held in the month of February. I would like to start new rounds of clubs in March. If interested in this monthly meeting of five ladies please contact me, either through this blog or by email! (Dandyspandy@sbcglobal.net)